For over a decade, @Flipboard's in-house editorial team has been curating the world’s best journalism around the clock. But to access this curation, you had to use the Flipboard app or visit flipboard.com.
Now we’ve decided to federate our Flipboard editorial profiles and their related Magazines in order to make our collections available to everyone on Mastodon and other Fediverse networks.
Here's what we're up to. Would love your feedback!
Today was a huge milestone in our quest to federate #Flipboard and tear down the walls around our own walled garden.
First, we launched a new version of Flipboard for iOS and Android which brings the promise of two way federation to life. Now when a federated Flipboard user curates, people in the fediverse can reply, favorite, boost or follow those Flipboard users who will in turn see that activity in their usual notifications tab. Even better, Flipboard users can directly reply to people in the fediverse -- and very soon they will also be able to follow each other.
Second, we federated some of our best curators today who are actively curating more than 10,000 magazines about everything from climate change to kale smoothie recipes. I'm grateful to our many curators and the service they provide to so many others who want to find the best content about a shared interest. I know our curators are excited to have millions more people who could potentially benefit from their curation. I also know that people in the fediverse will give a warm welcome to these curators. Especially now that everyone can hear and talk to each other over what was once two totally separate networks but now increasingly are in one and the same #fediverse.
I'm so excited about federating #Flipboard to the #Fediverse! We are getting closer every day.
I just recently saw a demo from our engineering team of a Flipboard account being fully federated and followable from #Mastodon. Now we need to interpret all the engagement signals (commenting, favoriting, etc) properly. This includes designing what Flipboard users should see when they click on Mastodon users who reply to them and vice versa. A bunch more to do but we are making serious progress.
In December, we started to federate the accounts of some Flipboard publishers and in February, we introduced Magazines to the fediverse. Now, we’re taking two important steps: federating the accounts of 400 creators and expert curators; and enabling two-way communication so that new followers and fediverse activity are visible and actionable in the Flipboard app.
To learn more about this, take a look at our blogpost:
Thanks so much to everyone who has given feedback on what we’ve done so far. We welcome your thoughts and comments as we continue on our journey to fully federate Flipboard.
A new episode of Dot Social, the first podcast about the open social web, is out! In it, Flipboard CEO @mike chats with ActivityPub co-author @evan about what the protocol unlocks for builders and entrepreneurs, how open-source social networks change our relationships to content and each other, and why any of this matters at all. Learn more and take a listen!
The world of social media is changing, and we are embracing this new social web, the Fediverse. Today, we started to federate our platform with a test of 25 partners. You can read more about that on @mike's post here:
So, ready for a really seriously exciting Fediverse development?
Flipboard has announced that they have begun to federate, and the first thing they are doing is hosting a whole bunch of wonderful publications using a new Fediverse instance flipboard.com
There’s a new playbook being written right now when it comes to the future of social media. The early-mover advantage is still in effect, and there’s a lot to figure out. Gone are opaque algorithms and the whims of any single company.
The fediverse represents a chance for quality journalism to shine again.
We talked to two leaders at fedi-forward publications — @TheConversationUS's @BostonAbrams, and @404mediaco's @jasonkoebler — about why they’re investing in the open social web, what they’ve learned so far, and their advice for other publishers just getting started.
Today, we're beginning to federate a selection of publishers based in Germany and the U.K. We've also introduced @FlipboardDE, a new profile for the Mastodon community in Germany. In the first test, we are partnering with 21 publishers to federate their profiles and Magazines. Follow the profile to see all the stories they are posting on Flipboard, or topically curated Magazines to get coverage on specific areas of interest. Here's a blogpost that explains more.
Here are all the accounts you can follow for federated publishers in the United Kingdom. To find their Magazines, simply search for the publisher profile and you should see a list of everything they're curating.
Please welcome Flipboard U.K. to the Fediverse! 🇬🇧 You can follow the main account, @FlipboardUK, to see all the stories the team is flipping, or these Magazines for specific topics that interest you. Everything is curated by human editors and updated multiple times a day.
We’re working on federating all Flipboard accounts and implementing two-way conversations (see @mike
’s blogpost in our pinned post for more) but in the meantime, here's a thread of all the profiles you can currently follow in the Fediverse.
What’s the BBC up to in the Fediverse? What have they learned so far from their experiments? And how is all this like the early days of the internet? In the latest episode of Dot Social, Flipboard CEO @mike chats with Ian Forrester (@cubicgarden), Senior Firestarter at @BBCRD. (How cool is that title, btw!)
Flipboard curators have seen over 100,000 boosts, likes and replies from people across the fediverse since April 11. Given this positive signal from the community, today we're federating another 100 accounts representing more than 2,500 Magazines about everything from climate to culture. Read more here:
New: Flipping the Federation Switch: Flipboard joins the fediverse
#Flipboard has joined the fediverse this week, with the first selection of Flipboard accounts now fully interacting with the #fediverse. I spoke with @mike to learn more.
"As Flipboard’s head of creator community, I’m often explaining WTF the fediverse is and trying to convince creators to set up camp there. (Flipboard believes this is the future of social media.)," writes @miaq in the latest edition of our Fedi Curious newsletter. "If I’m lucky, the person is open to it, able to figure out how to get set up, and gives it a try. But more often than not, I get the digital equivalent of a blank stare and a groan — not another social platform?!" Here's her post about why creators should pay attention to what's happening here, and why the fediverse is not the same as all those other platforms.
👉🏾 ActivityPub will be on by default for Flipboard (with an opt out available)
👉🏾 Threads ActivityPub settings are off by default
👉🏾 Flipboard’s last official stat (2020) boasted 145 million active users
👉🏾 Threads last official stat (2024) boasted 130 million active users
👉🏾 Threads is reporting total follower users (regardless if they enabled #ActivityPub or are leaving it off)
👉🏾 #Flipboard had a similar issue before providing more transparent stats
👉🏾 Theory: No Threads account is in the top 10, let alone 💯
I really like using @Flipboard as a Mastodon client, flipping from toot to toot post. Lots of features.
From their app page, "Pixelfed is now on Flipboard (in beta): Connect your Pixelfed account and flip through your feed. Like, comment, and share to Pixelfed via Flipboard. Plus, save photos from Pixelfed into a Flipboard Magazine."